Self-Combustion
by MetaMirage
Summary: Karin struggled to find reason in a world being torn apart by bloodshed and war. She is trapped in a state of mindless obedience until she meets a reckless boy named Sasuke. Then her life ignites in a slow burning rebellion that threatens to consume everything. "Let it burn." SasukeKarin pairing.
1. 1

'_Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. _

* * *

** Self-Combustion  
**

MetaMirage

* * *

**1**

* * *

Karin was born with dirt beneath her fingernails. Her mother's work in pottery her first love and true passion. Together they would mould bowls, flatten plates and carve intricate patterns into ornamental vases. With a handful of soft, palpable clay her ten year old life couldn't be better.

Sketching was important to realise design so on the day Karin accidentally dropped her workbook into the fireplace her mother rushed over to the tragedy. Karin stared in shock, bursting into primal fascination at the devouring flames. Pages peeled to nothingness. Hours of line work crisped to ash.

"Sweetheart?" her mother broke in. "You can still save it."

Karin was lost. All is fragile against fire. All is erased.

She shook her head, entranced. Fire is unstoppable consumption. "Let it burn."

* * *

At sixteen nothing could be worse. The world was being torn apart by human conflict, bloodshed and war. Soldiers fought for slavery, killed for oppression and died for dictatorship. Amidst the chaos something more than a man had risen up and she found herself at the heart of his regime. Lord Orochimaru, the leader of a rebellion she forgot the purpose for. Was his movement heroically fighting against a government goose stepping its people into an unjust war? Or was he knee deep in a cesspool of civilian attacks, dead child soldiers and inhumane experimentation? Karin begged to differentiate from it all until it pitted her like a cyst. This was not the pensive darkness of her dorm however. This was training.

"Get down! Get down!"

Her shouts resulted in 16 recruits hitting the ground. She was particularly pleased with the girl that took cover in a shell crater. Not so much with the thirteen year old caught in barbed wire. He ripped up his uniform, crying out at lacerated flesh. Karin resisted the urge to scowl. His clumsiness had no business on the battlefield. Instead she barked at everyone to surround him.

As a drill sergeant she armed squads with the tools of survival. Her eyes fell to the shark-teeth mountain's ringing the base and the stretch of tunnels comprising the Youth Armed Sanctuary. When Lord Orochimaru started the _YAS_ he claimed it was to offer a refuge from war. Then why were they trained like soldiers? Why were they sent out to fight? Her mind reeled at the role she played, her depth and reason.

At the sound of whimpering she was returned to the thin, pale child stuck in the wire. Delicate as an ashen moth caught in a web, gossamer wings brushing impossible freedom. It would be kinder to let him bleed out.

* * *

The rally before her mission shook the core of the mountain. Lord Orochimaru was back and she joined in with the joyous, hysterical screaming of his subordinates. Her arms felt weightless, salute boundless. Everybody's outstretched fingertips ached to reach their adorned hero. Suddenly she recognised their fanatical desperation as cult like. The idea terrified her until she was knocked. The insidious thought was culled by the shouting around her. Saviour. Paragon. Saint.

Karin screamed louder.

* * *

A simple sabotage had become a scattered fiasco. Velvet tread set east, Karin tasked herself with finding her missing squad. The sunrise aided her as she surveyed the area. With a cliff top vantage, dense foliage for cover and source of nearby running water it was the ideal hiding place. In the overgrowth she caught a glimpse of what might've been a raven's feathered wing, only to discover it was the back of a head. It was one of hers, a boy named Sasuke. She coughed politely.

Instantly she was turned on with a blade pressed against her throat. Recognition flashed in his cold eyes but he still lowered his aim to her chest before sheathing the weapon.

"Head or heart," she muttered. Sometimes she couldn't decide herself. "It's all so messy."

He regarded her to the point she felt less human and more like the fascinating subject of an agar plate. Impossibly, his look became more intense when she beckoned him. "The others are waiting."

* * *

The discord in the group erupted when they approached. Karin rolled her eyes as 'can't hold it together', 'playing favourites' and 'Uchiha' made its round in seeping venom. She would take no part in their babbling witch hunt against the superiors. Blaming Sasuke for the botched sabotage, although she agreed his promotion to captain was premature, went against orders. Lord Orochimaru would only care about their inability to secure enemy supplies, not pointless politics. She felt a headache coming on.

"We should head back..." someone squeaked out and her stomach dropped. She told herself it was because she didn't want to let Lord Orochimaru down and not because she feared punishment. They were ordered to return with GK-10 pellets at any cost. She looked in the direction of the cart they were supposed to bring to the academy, assessing the situation. They were caught between two waring nations, Kirigakure and Sunagakure. Kirigakure guarded the mountain passage home while Sunagakure combed the area for the stolen cache before her. With no cover and the sheer size of the hoard it seemed impossible. What would Lord Orochimaru do?

"We have to take what we can and burn the rest," she concluded. Lord Orochimaru would rather destroy the supplies than risk them falling back into enemy hands. Many began to nod until she was cut off.

"No," Sasuke contradicted, "that will draw attention. The enemy will spot the smoke a mile out."

"Don't you think I know that?" she snapped back. She clung to Lord Orochimaru's words 'the sacrifice of few for the good of many'. They would run. Luck would decide the rest.

"Besides," he said casually drawing a hooked blade from his pack. They all froze in terror at the sweeping curve of the blade. The cache was full of them and any soldier caught by Kiri with these traditional Suna knives was killed heinously. She shivered at the memory of a blinded dead soldier, his nose sawed off and mouth cut open like a baited fish. His lobbed off fingers circling him like a grotesque halo in the dying light of a trench. His fate was suddenly all too real.

"So how else do we get rid of it, _captain_?" was spoken up.

Sasuke gave them a lazy look. "We improvise."

* * *

Sasuke is raving delusional. He had to be to pull off what happened next. They pushed the cart of enemy supplies all the way into a nearby village. One they knew the Suna made sweeps through. Karin studied dilapidated tin rooves, shanty walls and grotty dirt roads and had to remind herself the village was _YAS_ liberated. The market stalls were pitifully stocked and the few people whom dared the open walked quickly and hunched over. Thin rags hid their sallow faces, starved bones jutting from thin wrists.

Sasuke climbed on the cart and shouted into broad daylight. "Free knives!"

It was like a rooster's crow on the sorry excuse for a market place. People poked dirty faces out of windows and dashed out of doorways. At first they were hesitant, circling the cart en masse. Mistrust had been bore into them but ravenous hunger crystallized in each pair of sunken eyes. In such troubled times there was always use for a good, sharp blade.

"You heard him!" one of the squad took over in encouragement by handing a blade to a little girl whom ran it back to her mother. It would fetch a decent price on the black market. "It's all free!"

Soon there was a swarm. The villagers took everything, even striped away the cart wheels and rolled them off. The knives were put to good use by hacking at the wooden frame and splintering it down into firewood. All the evidence was gone. But Sasuke wasn't done yet.

"Right," he pushed, jumping on a stall as curious villagers surrounded him. "I need a favour."

* * *

"You're an institution," Karin said sullenly. Sasuke rolled his shoulders back, continuing to stretch.

"Aren't all great men?"

He was no older than seventeen. She shook her head at his deadpan expression, "You're hardly a man."

"I'll be nothing more than a dog in a minute," he replied coolly. "Hunted and chased down for sport."

She shifted uncomfortably. Sasuke belonged to a bloodline that many countries considered disease ridden and highly contagious. They were persecuted to the cellular level, hailed as parasites whose beliefs and culture must be firmly stamped out in the interest of preventing plague. In particular, Suna had a policy to eradicate Uchiha on sight. The policy was not embraced by Oto so Karin refused to give it more thought. She was glad the dark cloak of night would soon descend. "Stick to the rocky ledge, there will be plenty of cover," she suggested.

Again he gave her that intense look. "That was already my plan."

She spotted the Suna soldiers just shy of the village outskirts and slinked into the shadow of a wall. It was a small group. She deduced they had been split up to search for the cache. The soldiers were startled by roaring villagers who spat racial slurs at Sasuke between rock throwing. It was exactly what he had asked of them. He cast a terrified look at the Suna before sprinting away when they charged him.

* * *

Karin stepped carefully over the corpses and readjusted the pack of precious GK-10 pellets on her back. Sasuke had succeeded in drawing the Suna soldiers into the Kiri forces and opening up the passage home as the two sides annihilated each other. A risky plan, one she was sure cost him his life. She hunted dead faces for his, unsure of what she was _really_ looking for until a hollow feeling crept into her body. She ran briskly into the barren mountain pass.

Karin was in a world that never stopped moving. It was suicide to want to stand still.

* * *

Her squad was decorated and invited to a private breakfast with Lord Orochimaru. For many it was the first time seeing their leader in such an intimate setting. She could almost forgive the gaping, frantic whispers but the girl who complemented his _eyelashes_ was pure humiliation. Lord Orochimaru maintained his regal dignity throughout their little nuances. His pale skin flawless, eyes keen and appearance immaculate as always. She stared at him, not from her usual admiration, but to facilitate avoidance.

Sasuke had somehow survived and haunted her peripheral.

"Of course all this could have been avoided if you simply burnt the supplies!" Lord Orochimaru praised. "Enemy attention would have been regrettable but the sacrifice of few for the good of many."

Basically the loss of a few people was inconsequential in the scheme of things. Blood for oil, flesh for soil. She stirred a turnip in her watery broth mindlessly. They had been called to banquet but ate as they would in the crowded dining room pews. She respected Lord Orochimaru's will but it was difficult to ignore the smell of fried egg and bacon wafting from his plate. She starved for the runny yellow yolk and grease soaked dish.

"That's not how I run my operation," Sasuke replied smoothly.

She spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out why, after that, she had left feeling full.

* * *

She struggled to write a single word of her essay: _Describe our glorious leader Lord Orochimaru_. She leaned back on the long wooden bench, a luxury of being alone in the mess hall. Ordinarily such an essay was a simple assignment for her. Now she rummaged through dog-eared pages, past reports and loose leaf paper. The highlighted passages of Lord Orochimaru's conquests used to speak so much to her. Now they may as well be foreign prose.

For inspiration she found herself meditating on the speech he gave about her squad's unusual victory. How he dotted on Sasuke and referred to him as a 'slow burn' stood out. He spoke of an ionizing hatred deep within the boy that (with his coaching) would reach the state of an out of control inferno against their oppressors. Karin reflected on this. How could a boy with coal black eyes and soot coloured hair be anything but? Sasuke was the aftermath of an unruly blaze. She believed he crawled out of the ashes, unfettered but missing parts of himself.

She recalled the mission. How Sasuke took control, used great innovation, intelligence, strength and made personal sacrifices. He went against the odds. 'That's not how I run my operation' pierced at her once more and this time reconciled with the darkness that has been clouding her mind.

Soon she was filling the page not with traits that described Lord Orochimaru, but Sasuke.

He was running a different operation. One for the first time in years, she could stand for.

* * *

The _YAS_ was an adjustment but Sasuke had survived in worse conditions. He picked up on the routine of daily chores and training quickly. His past in woodwork had set him in a comfortable position in the repairs team and he naturally flourished in guerrilla combat. Sasuke did not find difficulty with squeezing through tight tunnels or constantly breathing stifled air but with study. Classes were more like mass, a zealot inference of events. He had stumbled upon some hapless religion centred on the hero worship of Orochimaru. He used the mind numbing lectures to visualise his own goals and how to achieve them.

In such time of reflection Karin became a necessity. Since their first meeting on the GK-10 mission he had been impressed with her. He listened for any mention of her and slowly built up a scarce profile until a direct line of questioning was needed.

One night he hung around the joining hall in his free time before bed. The girls and boys dormitories were heavily segregated; guards' constantly patrolling the girl's sleeping quarters to keep them safe from the opposite sex. Sasuke lamented such double standards because the boys were not awarded the same treatment. On his second night he had found a girl in his bed cooing at how similar his features were to Orochimaru. It had only got worse from there.

He searched the uniforms until he spotted a girl named Kin. Kin had her nose in everyone's business and probably had more personal information on her peers than the records archive. Sasuke believed such pooling of knowledge would be a worthy achievement if it were not used exclusively for gossip. He stretched before distancing himself from the pack of boys that made a habit of prowling the hall. It earned him a rumbled jeer as he casually leaned against the girl's wall to search out Kin.

She raised an eyebrow at him before stalking over with her long ponytail swinging. "What do you think you're doing?"

He held out a single cigarette. Sasuke had grown to learn the value of everything and well traded cigarettes equalled a meal ticket. "Asking a question."

She looked him up and down and finally decided on being impressed with his relaxed attitude. She accepted the cigarette, leaning in when he lit the tip.

"What do you know about Karin?"

She took a long drag. "Which one?"

Sasuke didn't even know her last name. Frustrated he tried to summon up something distinctive but Karin was like trying to catch steam between fingers. "Red head with glasses and-"

"The hot one!"

He shot a dark look at the ears dropping crowd of boys and the one that had shouted over him in particular. Kin had done likewise and managed to send them stumbling back, although still leering.

"She's a captain and does the drills for the new meat to get them ready for serious training," Kin said evenly before adding slyly. "Why? You interested in her?"

"Anything else?" Sasuke continued. Kin shrugged before bemoaning how nice her cigarette was. She was good. Sighing he offered up another cigarette but insisted that was the last one he had. She snatched it away as her memory suddenly cleared.

"She keeps to herself so all I can tell you is that she is good at what she does. She's in group 1b if you want to track her schedule but remember she's a complete hard ass that would eat a pretty boy like you up."

It had hardly been worth a second cigarette but Sasuke commended the fact Karin was careful enough to conceal any information that was not observational. Exchange done Sasuke headed back. Another boy followed his example, cockily strutting up to the guards. Kin smiled sweetly at him before bashing him over the head with her baton.

* * *

When called for her evaluation Karin doesn't expect Sasuke. He leaned coolly against the wall just left of the panel. Reason became apparent after her critique ('_Impeccable as always Karin'_) when Officer Tawanaka cleared his throat.

"Sasuke Uchiha requests to be your partner."

Oh. That _was_ interesting. Partnerships were official business. It opened the pool to 'special missions' and high profile cases. Becoming a permanent fixture in a team also meant prolonged time away from the academy and her drill duties. She had been with the YAS for five years. Countless people had requested her. Each time she said 'no'.

"I don't want to be his partner."

This time was no different.

A small smile played across her superiors face. They have been here many times before. "Well my dear, as long as Sasuke outranks you, it's not about what you want."

It was a nudge she hadn't experienced before. Something bigger loomed, a powerful force spurring on. She waited diligently for her dismissal and brushed past Sasuke on her way out. He gave nothing away, expression donned with his usual apathy. The tunnel thinned out and she drew her hand along the smooth, reinforced stone. Ripple patterns were detailed throughout and although narrow these quarters were much finer than the rest. Well maybe not the medical wing which had elegant columns and tiled floors.

"If you aren't interested I will find someone else."

A smile tugged at her lips. It had been almost two months since she had seen Sasuke but it hadn't stopped her thinking about him. He would come to her inconveniently during drills, study and chores or scandalously on a restless night. He remained an enigma. All she could comprehend was admiration.

She turned. "Oh I'm interested."

His brow knotted in confusion. "You changed your tune."

She felt light headed placing a hand on his shoulder, looking up at him through her lashes. "Such a big fuss to make us exclusive..." she murmured flirtatiously. Slowly she traced her hand down his chest and hard stomach. "If you wanted me, you could have asked."

Now he understood, grabbing her by the wrist. It could hurt. "That's not it." His calloused hand pushed her away but his words drew her in. "I need you."

She stalked down the hall. "Then come and get me."

* * *

Three months later she was wading through marshland. Boots sunk into the swamp, each step arduous in humid heat. Panting, she hoisted herself up against a willow tree and clung to the trunk, counting on cascading branches to stay hidden in her exhaustion. She was being chased. Ironically by the person she had been ordered to track. One of Lord Orochimaru's top brass in the medical core had deserted and such betrayal would not be tolerated. She straddled destitution when the terrible sound of sloshing water invaded her oasis. He had found her and he would kill her.

"The hunter has become the hunted," he sneered and for once she let terror permeate. He may be a man of science but those large hands were capable of chocking the life out of her. The scalpel he wielded swiping a precise cut to her jugular any second. Panic stricken she pulled a blade from her holster, locking eyes with her pursuer.

"Do it," she urged in a violent hiss. Adrenaline ruled her. "Now!"

* * *

_MetaMirage: Hi everyone, it's really sad this has to be said but here we go. I like Karin. She deserves to be fleshed out as opposed to caricatured into the irredeemably heinous bitch monster that some paint her in fanfiction. If you must send hate messages that bash characters, so be it. Just know that it won't change my opinion on what I consider an awesome character or make me change the pairing. Okay now that's over I hope everyone else enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know if you want to read more =) _


	2. 2

'_Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. _

* * *

**Self-Combustion  
**

MetaMirage

* * *

**2**

* * *

"You were fine."

"I was _not_ fine," Karin snapped. Keeping her voice down had never been so difficult. If there was no threat of giving away location she would be howling. "You try being the bait next time."

Sasuke ignored her and climbed the rock face. Dirt stuck to his wet clothes and tipped his damp hair. With her temper flared she looked to the other dripping thing.

"Why don't we just kill him?" she growled, kicking their bound captive. The disgraced doctor just increased an already lengthy journey to the academy. When Lord Orochimaru sent them to 'contain the situation' she doesn't think this was what he had in mind.

Sasuke's tone was as cold as the autopsy room. "We're not killing him."

She groaned. Why was he insisting on this? Dr. Matsuda was condemned. Lord Orochimaru wasn't going to excuse him from stealing medical research in an attempt to leverage freedom in an enemy nation. The secrets of the _YAS_ were not privy to the highest bidder. They grabbed Dr. Matsuda, lifting him over jagged rock.

"Just because we're partners doesn't mean you get to boss me around," she said darkly. Sasuke continued to ignore her so she spurred the party to a halt.

"How about we let him decide?" she challenged, pulling down the gag around Dr. Matsuda's mouth. He didn't use the opportunity to plead his case or face death with dignity. Instead he turned to Sasuke with a conceited superiority that must have taken decades to cultivate. "Filthy Uchiha."

The racial slur was heavy in the air. Without warning Sasuke delivered one hot, angry swipe and sent the bound man crashing to the floor. Karin was shocked but not by the punch. That was understandable, necessary even. It was the brief glimpse behind Sasuke's mask of indifference. Twisting rage ignited his eyes, mouth pulled back in an unforgivable snarl. It was the face of an abused dog, kicked for the final time and ready to bite back.

Then it was as if nothing had happened. Matsuda dragged to his feet coolly. "Move out."

* * *

Karin stared up at the night sky, focusing on the dark stretch between stars.

The plan had been executed flawlessly. She had drawn Dr. Matsuda out and led him to the ambush. Sasuke's decision to hide under the water was a last minute alteration but performed perfectly. She closed her eyes remembering his dripping wet body rising from the swamp, clothes clinging to his skin and wild hair plastered against his face. The blade in his hand was her salvation. She knew he would come.

She jolted in her sleeping bag, upset. How dangerous. In that moment instead of trusting her eyes, her intuition and overall her brain she had factored in something as intangible as faith. She had _believed_ Sasuke would save her.

She sat up, casting a look to Sasuke as he kept watch. Although they disagreed she trusted him with her life and almost in a trance she walked over to him. His gaze slowly met hers.

"You know I trust you right?" she said softly. He was not surprised by the change in her demeanour and learnt quickly. Karin is living contradiction. One moment her words degraded and the next revered him. She knelt and brushed the grit from his clothes. His knees and elbows were the worst and she slowly traced her way up his body. She wondered how far she could gamble the unwelcome touch and sat in his lap. His body went rigid but he didn't push her away. Emboldened she cupped the back of his head.

"I don't doubt you," she murmured, studying his face. Although good looking, it was in a way that bored her. She always found the flaws and oddities in her craft to bring her the most joy. The occasional trapped air bubble or hairline crack in the clay making the piece truly unique. He was a million other faces, no one feature daring enough to shatter that perfection. But that day she had discovered his attitude was all surface tension. Something awful lurked beneath but it was _real_. She wanted to make him lose that arrogant self-control, his teetering dignity. She wanted him human.

Her heart was erratic when he leaned in, her face flushing red in furious betrayal. That wasn't all she wanted. She wanted him. It was a mingling, maddening desire that could only settle in afterglow.

His mouth was hot against her ear. "Zero three hundred."

She blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"It's zero three hundred. The time we agreed to swap over," he finished plainly and in one careless motion pried her off. He headed off to sleep and left Karin dazed.

* * *

She hadn't been gone long. A loud metallic twang had disrupted the natural world, vibrated off the mountain pass and demanded her investigation. Once no immediate threat had been determined she returned to respiratory failure. Dr. Matsuda was in convulsions and struggling to breathe.

She had learnt the hard way Sasuke was a menace to rouse. Violence became a knee jerk reaction in his disorientation as he had once pinned her to the ground with hands around her neck. This time was no different as he sprung up, arms tightening chokehold around the bag she had thrown.

"Quick," she urged. The doctor struggled to breathe but face serene. Death was not creeping up slowly and would rush him in a matter of seconds. Why became apparent when her keen senses picked up a musty scent that reminded her of raw liver. The blistering on his hands and around his mouth confirmed her suspicions.

"Odium cluster poisoning," she concluded. Dr. Matsuda had committed suicide by eating a poisonous plant native to Oto, a cluster of deep red roots that favoured dry heat and dark places. Merely touching it would bring the subject out in blisters, but consuming it was fatal. Irritably she chastised herself for not checking the area more thoroughly. It was a rookie mistake and something she constantly reprimanded her trainees for.

Sasuke just looked at her.

"Can't you smell it?" she questioned.

"I don't smell anything."

Karin's gaze fell to frayed rope. He had freed himself but instead of running chose death. The torture at the _YAS_ would have been heinous, capture if he tried to flee again inevitable. He could have died horribly of disease, dehydration, starvation or exposure. Odium Cluster was virtually painless in the scheme of things. What was disturbing is how much the body fought for life. She wouldn't forget the sounds of his gaping breaths in a while; desire to live kicking in even when the brain abandoned all hope.

Sasuke summed her up with a doubting eye and her brow tensed angrily. "I didn't do this," she growled.

He simply shook his head. "I trust you."

His words were unquestioning. They were resolve. It helped her collect before they kicked the body over the cliff face. It tumbled to the jagged earth with a heavy thud, red dust rising around the corpse.

* * *

Karin had discovered what caused the disturbance that morning. Two suspicious men in unmarked attire were loudly rigging wire. She readjusted her stance, loading a single arrow to her bow. They were 50m below her in a basin; not making two headshots would be criminal.

Karin knew attacking like this should be difficult. It was easy to kill in direct combat. She could see the dark pit of her enemies hate filled eyes, feel the powerful flex of their muscles and smell the slick sweat of survival on skin. Killing wasn't a choice but an act of self-defence. These men however, were of no immediate threat to her. Their weapons still in a burlap sack belted at the waist. With a calm deliberation she had always failed to see how these situations were truly different. Death was death. The lack of justification she needed for that might be horrifying.

"Don't."

Sasuke. He had corrupted her line of vision, preventing her from leading the target.

"They pose a threat," she fired back. The men were close to a _YAS_ storage tunnel, clearly rigging wire traps to catch the people coming in and out.

Still he remained at the tip of her arrow. "Just wait."

She became aware that her breathing had picked up. She felt submerged. She didn't have to listen to Sasuke, in fact it was wise not to. Despite better judgement her grip around the bow slacked. She waited.

It took tentative seconds. One of the men reached into his bag and pulled out a dead pheasant. The wire snags were in place to capture game, not people. The men were mere hunters, civilians. All protest died on her lips. She looked to Sasuke incredulously, unwanted emotion building.

She felt relief.

* * *

They both went through strict weapon checks. Even badges were taken as 'the pin can be used as a weapon'. Shoes must be removed if they are steel capped. All jewellery examined. She had no idea why the attendant reminded them off that particular fact. Neither of them was sentimental enough for such things.

"Lord Orochimaru will see you shortly- Oh!"

Karin doesn't flinch when the ribbon tying back her hair was pulled off. "No no! Our lord is very specific about all loose cloth!"

She concluded security had been bumped up since her last visit.

"I will only be a moment."

When the inspector disappeared behind the door to confirm their appointment Sasuke uttered, "Paranoid."

She held her head high in correction, "Prepared."

Sasuke may retort with, "Doubtful." She just chose to ignore his challenge. Her attitude towards Lord Orochimaru was likened to a stone at the beach that had once been rough and coarse but in time was smoothed by infinite waves. Any doubts she held created a crack that Lord Orochimaru's steady presence soon wiped from existence.

They were lead into the war room. Lord Orochimaru was pouring over maps but spotted them with a wide smile. "Ah there you are! My two rising stars."

Her heart swelled at the recognition. The cold draft in the room was probably from her ego shooting through the roof.

"You two are now working on collection. We discussed this last time Sasuke, Right?"

Collection was an honorary position and only bestowed upon the most trustworthy followers. She was curious about Sasuke requesting such diplomatic work but all thought evaporated when the door burst open. A small boy no older than nine had barged in. His unorthodox appearance was less offensive than the rusted cleaver he held. Karin wondered if he had found it in the wreckage of a butcher as she crept closer to the table. She easily stayed out of his line of vision as the boy's eyes were fixated.

Lord Orochimaru sighed. "And who are you?"

"You-" the boy was flabbergasted before his voice exploded in pure hatred. "How can you not remember me?! You killed my parents!"

Lord Orochimaru's face marred with pinpricked irritation. It gave off the impression he was more annoyed by the interruption than anything else. "And I'm supposed to remember _everyone_ I've killed, am I?"

With a roar the boy prepared to charge but startled when Karin swept half a dozen maps in his direction. The fluttering papers served enough distraction for Sasuke to judo chop him in the neck and knock him out. Both of them were only satisfied when the cleaver was kicked away.

"Well done my children," Lord Orochimaru praised, seemingly unaffected. "The collection is in capable hands."

"My Lord I am so sorry!" Another barge into the room, this time it was the inspector. Guards soon followed.

"Yes, yes," Lord Orochimaru dismissed. Karin was inspired by his compassion at the near fatal incompetence. "Get that boy to rehabilitation. It pains me to see him this way."

"Yes my Lord," was bowed quickly as the man rushed forward in haste. "Right away my-"

He finished his sentence with a wet gulp. A sword had been stabbed into his stomach, Lord Orochimaru twisting the hilt with a ferocious holler. "Don't stand on my left!"

Karin couldn't deny she was shaken by Lord Orochimaru's violent mood swing. She reminded herself lessons _repeated, repeated, repeated_ never to stand on the glorious leaders left. He hated it. The man stumbled when the blade was slashed out his abdomen but continued to drag the boy out the room weakly.

Lord Orochimaru huffed apathetically, "Someone call my painter. There is blood all over the maps again."

* * *

Karin smartened her _YAS_ uniform. Simple grey skirt, black knee high socks and white button down blouse. Her neckerchief was capillary red, revealing her status. As if the pins and medals that adorned her blazer were not telling enough. She was most pleased with her soft leather shoes. They are the pinnacle of comfort, crafted for leisure. She kept them spotless.

She rolled her eyes when Sasuke rounded the corner. He wore the boy's uniform with slacking pride. Unlike her, each button was not carefully fastened or shirt neatly tucked. It simply wouldn't do for collection. She glided over to him, reprehending his issue belt and frayed trousers. He called her 'fussy' when she dragged him to the storeroom.

The clothing station was packed. Civvies lined the walls and bogged down the racks. The more expensive outfit combinations draped from the roof and long wooden poles for their removal flanked the dense shoe cupboard. These were the clothes they wore in the field. The selection ranged from lowly beggar garb to the fine silk attire of the merchant class. She began her service in this office when she was eleven, hauling dirty clothing to the stream and wringing out sweat, dirt and blood until angry red sores peeled back on her waterlogged hands. She was glad she made her way into weaponry where the biggest strain was the overwhelming smell of gunpowder and metal shavings.

"Uchiha needs a new belt."

Tayuya scowled at them. She was stern, twenty-five and would find her job of dressing others perfectly pleasant if it were not for all these _people_. Rumour had it she strung up a girl for failing to return a pair of nylon stockings. Despite this, her tailoring skills were sought after as she was a seamstress in her past life. Karin never delved any further into the raw subject least she be ordered to handle the new recruits soiled training uniforms.

"His whole uniform looks too small for him," she grumbled looking over Sasuke critically before becoming accusatory. "I fitted you five fucking months ago."

Karin couldn't help but smirk as she began to imagine what would be rattled under Tayuya's breath when they were gone. '_How dare he grow_', _'more fucking work' _and her mantra '_do it for Lord Orochimaru'._

"Just swap over the whole uniform," she decided and Karin was shocked by the generosity. Then Tayuya pointed at her. "This is your favour!"

Karin glared irritably. That was not equal to a senbon pouch allowance. "Only if you throw in a new training uniform for me."

Tayuya may as well be spitting acid. The lecture was hardly worth it. The sun would rise in the west before she would accept such barter. Finally better combat boots agreed to. She almost smiled hearing Tayuya hiss insults before they left.

* * *

"Do you suppose Lord Orochimaru is... eccentric?"

Sasuke could sense the uncertainty in Karin's voice, the threadbare defiance. Her usual strut was shrinking into timid steps, confident air wilted with pulled in shoulders and clasped hands. He was presented with the opening he had been hoping for. He could stimulate her questions and offer up a solidarity.

Show her Orochimaru was less man and more monster.

"That's the nicest way of putting it."

He stared directly into her eyes, mentally screaming at her to keep them open. Angrily he watched her guard jump back up as a poignant glare settled into place.

She pushed past him with a decidedly curt, "we shouldn't speak of such things."

He trudged after her. There was no getting around it. Karin was hopelessly loyal to Orochimaru... it was a shame really.

* * *

Sympathisers are vital to any terrorist organisation. The _Youth Armed Sanctuary_ relied on them to stay bankrolled and on occasion hide out from the authorities. Collection was about appealing to sympathisers, extracting money/resources and finally ensuring loot was delivered safely. The position was steeped in prestige but somehow she didn't think that factored into Sasuke's request. Sasuke was a fledgling to the _YAS_ and its routines, the type to downplay successes and overall about as charming as a pine needle. On their first doorstep, when he spat into a flowerpot, she began to question his grossly misinterpreted sense of self.

The door was answered by a thin wiry man named Eita Yamauchi. He was remarkable, if only for his huge dark eyes, spaced almost as wide as that of a hyena. She supposed his bristled, auburn hair and blotted birth mark didn't detract from the comparison. Yamauchi had inherited his father's mining empire and his interest with the _YAS_ was purely based on the tunnels. He had an agreement with Lord Orochimaru that if any metals or precious gems were struck he would have a stake in the claim and rights as a supplier.

"We are from the Youth Armed Sanctuary. May we come in?"

She feared being rejected as they stood in uniform, easily recognisable in the area.

He lingered over Sasuke, "of course."

* * *

They left the collection with a substantial sum but they could have gotten more. Karin didn't know if it counted as a victory or not.

"Why did you agree to be my partner?"

Sasuke's question caught her off guard and made her feel like he had her backed against a precipice. She gave an offhand answer, committed to nothing. "Curiosity I suppose."

Strangely that seemed to satisfy him. They followed the dirt road until they were swallowed in the cool shade of ghost white trees before she spoke again. "Why did you want me for a partner?"

It didn't take him a moment's thought. "You're impressive. You can track anyone. You're careful. Our combat styles complement each other. You're smart."

She can only begin to hope her epitaph will be as flattering. He barely had enough time to press up against her shoulders when she moved for him. She was frustrated he would rebuff meaningless kisses. He conceitedly applied worth to each of her passing desires as if she were to fall madly in love with him at any moment.

"Come on," she urged, careful to graze the lobe of his ear with teeth, threatening tongue. "What's one kiss between such _good_ partners? With all this time we spend together we are practically married."

"Married huh?" His flint hard glare evolved into self- agonised scheming. "Follow me."

* * *

The enemy walls of Konoha loomed but her fear was lost to overwhelming curiosity. The journey had turned Sasuke into a man possessed as she matched his unruly pace through thickened groves and beneath endless canopies. Soon they were in a clearing of scorched earth, turned and bleached white to the edges. Immediately she was confronted by a dark fissure of time, a ruthless overlap in familiarity. Terror strung out her spine like the notches on a serrated blade.

The ground was hallowed.

Sasuke spoke foreboding. "On your wedding day it is an Uchiha family tradition to visit the graves of your ancestors."

She was standing ankle deep in the wreckage of his life. She imagined hundreds of gnarled limbs, the rotten flesh of massacred men, women and children. Seeds of guilty sweat lined her clammy skin. Cold panic grew out in her chest and resinated to the emptied part of her mind Sasuke now dominated.

"Everybody I love is in that hole. That's all you need to know about me. All you need to understand."

The mass grave beneath her was an insatiable mouth with sharpened teeth. Piled dirt slowly sunk to decay and packed bone. It took all her strength not to descend with it.

* * *

Karin couldn't sleep. She buried her childhood in guarded subconscious, titanium box with a poison sealed lock. Each chain she wound around it- allegiance, drills, missions- kept diligently tight. Sasuke and his mass grave had unravelled her. Voices she tried so hard to forget screamed in the cavern of her mind. They shrieked agony. Howl her name.

Every day she chokes on dirt.

* * *

_MetaMirage: Yay a relatively quick update for me! Thank you everyone for the wonderful support :) It inspired me to get this chapter out faster. Also confession... I can not write in universe. I'm never satisfied when I do so I hope repurposing the character's into a different world doesn't hurt their original dynamics. I want them to have as close a personality, driving force and demons as possible. On the darker front both Karin and Sasuke have surviving a massacre in common. Chapter 3 is going to take that on... no matter how daunting I find that to write. Anyway, hope you have enjoyed reading so far and a special thanks to all those who review :)  
_


	3. 3

'_Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. _

* * *

** Self-Combustion  
**

MetaMirage

* * *

**3**

* * *

"This isn't like you Karin."

She had been hearing that a lot lately. Trying not to pant she readjusted her quiver. She had the best shot at the academy, able to peg a target dead centre from the longest distance and hit a moving target with insane accuracy. Her ability to adapt the environment, wind resistance, temperature and body lean was unparallel. She tired quickly though and had asked one of the girls from her dorm to help address that.

"You haven't been doing any of your endurance exercises." Sakicho's voice wasn't laced with disappointment but something far worse; concern. "I know you haven't been sleeping..."

Karin detached herself from the doe-eyed anxiety. It only fuelled the vivid screaming that clotted her nightmares. "I'm fine."

She ran ten more laps just to prove it.

* * *

_5:45 Wake up.  
6:30 Breakfast  
7:00 Class  
9:00 Drill training  
12:00 Lunch  
12:45 Weaponry inventory/report  
14:00 Propaganda study  
15:30 Weapons training  
18:00 Dinner/homework/free time  
19:30 Devotion  
20:30 Showers/readings  
22:00 Lights out_

"What am I looking at?"

'What does it look like' was on the tip of Karin's tongue but she remembered she liked Officer Tawanaka. "My roster."

"Obviously," he said crisply. "What's the problem?"

"It's still for full time drill duties. I'm a partner now."

"Your commitments may have changed but your roster won't."

"Since when?" Karin questioned before changing tact irritably. "Then who trains my squads while I'm gone? A condition of me accepting partnership was that I would _at least_ have an assistant. It's been 6 months and no one."

Officer Tawanaka rubbed his forehead. She had a feeling they were sharing the same frustration. "I've put the request in. No one is authorising anything." Karin frowned at the way his body slumped before he continued. "No one is allowed to change their roster anymore. That's a direct order from Lord Orochimaru."

It didn't make any sense but she didn't doubt the information. "But in these circumstances..."

"I don't like it anymore than you do."

There was finality in his voice that was weighted with discontent. Karin had mentored Officer Tawanaka and she had never heard him so exhausted with Lord Orochimaru. Tiredly he stood, moving around his desk to admire the lone map in his office.

"Did you know I'm actually from Suna?" he asked.

Karin was smug. She'd suspected him for years. Early in her training she'd seen him handle a Suna blade with such ease it appeared he'd been born with it in his palm. "I'd assumed."

He chuckled. "Trust you to have clued on even though I haven't told anyone." Then he became sombre, pointing to an unforgivable stretch on the map. "I used to live right on the border of the Pustosh dessert."

"No man's land," Karin murmured. One of the many horror stories whispered through the ranks involved 6 _YAS_ squad deployments to cross Pustosh and reach the Kusagakure capital. Not a single group ever reached their goal and the speculations of their undoubtable deaths was the subject of many nightmares. To be sent on a suicide mission was called 'Pustosh' for a reason.

"It wasn't always like that," Officer Tawanaka said. "It used to be farmland as far as the eye could see. My great, great grandfather had a plantation there... then war broke out between Suna and Kusa. We pushed them out of our boarders but not before they set fire to the plains... salted the earth. Nothing can or ever will grow there again. Every morning I woke up overlooking the devastation of a century old battle and thinking the effects of war are so great... its face is forever."

Karin remained quiet as new understanding churned through her mind.

"When I joined the Youth Armed SanctuaryI thought we would help end the war quicker. Lord Orochimaru said that was always his intention. That was 11 years ago when Konoha first declared war on Kiri..."

Motivation clear Karin tried to view Officer Tawanka as anything other than a living recumbent effigy. A man of such pure intention that was being hopelessly laid to rest on scorched earth.

* * *

The sound of clucking drew Karin and Sasuke to civilization. They had wandered onto a farm, ploughed land and harvested fields. Sasuke headed toward the coop and over the chain link fence to chase down a fat chicken. He caught the bird, notched its neck between two fingers and gave a pull. His violent ministrations earned a scatter of chickens. She bit her lip when he stole a couple eggs from abandoned nests.

"What are you going to do with all that?" she asked warily.

The chicken was limp in his hand. She watched its head jut back and forth. "_We_ are going to eat it."

Eggs were hurriedly passed through the links and tucked in her bag. He tied the chicken to his belt and she cast one final look at the farmhouse when he made his decent. "We have orders to bring all food back to the academy," she said carefully.

"Why? So it can sit on ceremony at the head table?" he countered. "I vote we pick it to the bones."

Sasuke spoke a truth. Only the higher ups would enjoy these spoils. "We have orders."

He sighed, arrogantly plucking the bird and leaving a trail of feathers.

* * *

She gripped her issue biscuit. The rich aroma filling the air was making her mouth water. Sasuke was roasting the chicken while it was still bright as a glint of fire against the dark could pose lethal. Without any lard or oil the skin was charcoal. She didn't care and would devour the whole thing in seconds if her will was weaker.

"Come here."

She hated the way he ordered her around.

"Karin?"

She finally looked at him. He had prepared a feast, found some eatable roots and made a leafy stew, the eggs hard boiled in the pot for tomorrow. Against better judgement she stalked over but with arms crossed to communicate her disapproval.

"It's ready."

"So?" she muttered. Up-close the smell was unbearably good. She could have her pick of meat. Not jerky or whatever they put in the bi-weekly hotpot at the _YAS_.

He was impossibly alluring. "You hungry?"

"I'm not having any part in this," she reminded and settled back to her lookout post. The biscuit tasted stale but satisfying.

* * *

For the last half-hour she had been on edge. After her refusal to eat Sasuke followed suit, abandoning the meal in favour of lounging on a sunned rock. "Sasuke the foods getting cold."

He mirrored her, "so?"

There was no spite in his voice. She wondered how he managed that sometimes. "So why aren't you eating it?"

"Because you're not."

She was suddenly emotional, disappointment forming a lump in her throat that only grew out like an alum crystal at the sight of the untouched chicken. She couldn't stand good food going to waste. Who could in such hard times? She rubbed her eyes in exhaustion. "That's not fair."

He should at least eat. The one thing that made her happy about the scenario was Sasuke no longer having to suffer hunger.

"We are a team. I need you strong," he assured. "You eat, I eat."

She took a shaky step towards him. The soft and lush grass between her toes made her feel like she was seven all over again and inevitably she thought of her mother. The woman was the definition of free spirit, about as strict as an abstract watercolour. The only thing she governed herself by was her convictions. Karin could recall her mother outright refusing to sell wares to a man from the magnate class. It's funny how such a seemingly mundane moment in youth could lace itself to such heavy, definitive presence with age. How vividly she could picture the finely boned man in all his opulence, how artificially clean he smelt, like pungent antiseptic. It was an insult to the floating water weeds and biting citrus of her mother. She remembered a month's earnings placed before them, how quickly she wanted to snatch it away but her mother refused. He could have promised her the world but based on principle she would never accept. Karin wished she was more like her mother. She looked to Sasuke and finally gave a muttered, "Come on."

Karin struggled, and failed, to safeguard her convictions every day.

The chicken was cool but she tore into the vulnerable white flesh, savouring the way it stripped from the bone. They gorged themselves on the lukewarm stew. It added much needed moister.

* * *

"Why did you join the _YAS_?"

She didn't know Sasuke. Each attempt to learn more about him was shot down. Unimportant. Irrelevant. Most of the time she audited herself before asking anything.

"I'm going to kill Hokage Danzo."

With that question she had struck. Welled deep within Sasuke was a black anger, darker and thicker than crude oil. It churned within him, amassing pressure until he lost control. Soon he was ranting and she had another glimpse behind the placid mask he painstakingly maintained.

"I am going to make him suffer to his last breath," he snarled. Danzo would pay for his discriminatory policies, for massacre and genocide. The _YAS_ would help Sasuke avenge the Uchiha by facilitating Konoha's ultimate demise. Karin found herself goading him, saying all the right things to keep him fired up.

In the middle of nowhere Sasuke spouted hatred so deep, it would shake the world.

* * *

Kazumi Nakada was as delicate as chocolate tuile. A devoutly superstitious woman her donation required good timing and patience. They caught her in-between sets, the smoky socialising of the club and outfit changes. The young singer was hesitant and doubting her ties with the _YAS_. Lord Orochimaru funded her career, bought her prosperity and she chose to repay him with such uncertainty? Karin began to actualise the woman's skin tight conniving, each sewn sequin on her dress a wicked snake scale.

It was raining on the day she went to the market. A tiny wood carved nightingale sat among trinkets, its cage flimsy but enough to suffice eternal confinement. Suddenly she was reminded of Nakada and how trapped she must feel. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her purchase but helped her sneak the gift onto Nakada's vanity table none the less.

That evening they left with a double payment and promise of more money to come.

* * *

Karin never missed. Not when it counted. Her stray arrow knocked the wind out of her more than the kick to the stomach. Stunned, she didn't have time to draw her blade before being thrown to the ground. The first stab sunk into her stomach, made her cry out like a strung up pig. She would die like a gutted animal, helpless and afraid. It was hardly how she had ever envisioned. In a final effort she threw her hands up to catch the bandit's knife. The man was bent and going for her head.

He never got there. A sliver of metal pierced directly through his heart. Blood was thick and warm, there was substance to it. Then her enemy was gone and discarded to her side. Sasuke stood over her instead. He hated killing people but now Karin knew that principle was expendable. Disappointment plastered his face, made her realise she was expendable too.

* * *

Sasuke had noticed Karin's retreat, the erratic mistrust, rash decisions and detrimental second guessing. For month's she hadn't been herself. Not as strong. Not as competent.

Something had disturbed her. Made her turn and whisper frantically in the night. Instinct told him trouble ran deeper than the gash across her stomach.

Dutifully he kept on guard to let her sleep.

* * *

She awoke to decades of rusted spoons, fish bones and damp newspaper abandoned to the cave. She had managed to oversleep without sleeping at all. Her watch probably started two hours ago. With mind to her injuries she got up gingerly, not sure if she should be angry with Sasuke or herself. She may have been missing sleep before but at least she had kept her sense of time.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

Sasuke didn't reply nor did he retire to bed. She found herself massaging the bandage around her wound with apprehension as she sat with him. His pokes at the fire disguised purposefulness.

"You talk in your sleep," he said finally.

Ashamed, she bowed her head. The flames assaulted her already tired eyes as she wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling herself into a painful ball. How much had he heard?

Then he tugged at the thread that would make her unravel, "What happened to your mother?"

* * *

Blessed with lush pastures, a nearby wood and fresh waterway; her hometown was built on the cattle industry. When the order came the cows were spooked, smacked and separated into carts for the slaughter. Calf snatched from their mothers echoed wretched cries throughout the valley, the distressed call of the herd bleated into the back of her eardrums. The sound was so upsetting Karin would spend hours in her room, hands jammed over her ears to block the awful moaning.

It was the summer of her eleventh birthday when the soldiers came. They needed meat for their troops. 'Protecting the investment', as they put it. She liked the patrols and would fall asleep counting the lanterns that past her window. The rest of her village welcomed the defence with open arms. Of course she had come to except no less of them. Even though Karin was born out of wedlock, there was never a judgemental comment from the farming, carpenter or driving families. In the absence of her real father she had a dozen substitutes eager to teach how to train working dogs, mend fences or just let her tag along. Every afternoon she played with the other children, their mothers fussing over her like she was their own. They were a tight community and that left her fulfilled. However, none of this could compare to the love and admiration she held for her mother. The woman's gentle strength was her inspiration.

The soldiers set up base to guard the perimeter and one even began to court her mother. He spoiled them with oranges, bread and even managed to get paint. He stopped coming suddenly though, passed them on the street with hurried steps and avoidant eyes. Her mother was quietly heartbroken but stayed strong. They spend their last days fashioning ashtrays, glazing vivid colour until the trees were almost stripped bare in the autumn wind.

The final day began as any other, with the collection of clay. Karin waded barefoot through the cool, shallow water until trampled rows of reeds created her distinct path. They were lucky to have such a plentiful deposit just shy of their backdoor. The quality was excellent, rich ochre and smooth as butter. With a decent armful she made the trip back, slipping under the bridge with care as the soldiers on patrol seemed to have tripled. Some were armed to the teeth and the rest stripped down to the waist as they dug what appears to be a huge hole. It didn't hit her until much later at the breakfast table.

They were digging a mass grave.

"Mum! We have to get out of here!"

"Karin what has gotten into you?"

"They're going to kill us!"

No matter how much she pleaded, her mother refused to listen. How could she entertain the gut intuition of a preteen? The village had done nothing wrong so being killed was senseless. Karin ran into the town square and tried desperately to warn the others. Her neighbours just shook heads, some laughed and other's squeezed her hand and promised her otherwise. Nobody listened.

That was until the smoke bomb went off. It pushed everyone forward in a frenzied panic, not unlike the stamped of cattle. People ran to the open air only to be clocked with kunai. Windows shattered, reigning deadly glitter and Karin caught some in the back before she was grabbed. Her mother had risked her life to follow her. They huddled close, barely getting home before they both screamed. The front door was being bashed. In a split second decision Karin's mother shoved her out the back before the door was completely kicked in. Her mother stayed to hold them off and it took everything not to sacrifice that by running back to her side. Fighting every urge in her body Karin darted across the stream until she found a hollowed out tree and curled up in the trunk. The whole village was shrieking, their cries echoing through the throat of the valley. Tear stricken and with hands clamped against ears, like with the moaning of the cows, she tried to block out the screams of slaughter.

* * *

"I never saw my mother again," Karin murmured. She could just make out Sasuke across the fire. His shadowed face played tricks, etched his expression to downcast pity and pressed his mouth into a tight line of understanding. Telling her story replaced the withering feeling in her stomach with numbness. She struggled to decide if that was better or not. "I hid in the forest and stole from a nearby village to survive."

That was when the _YAS_ found her. Recruiters tried to lure her out with food but she carefully avoided them, taking the spoils and only revealed herself when trust was established. They were so impressed she was presented to Lord Orochimaru. His praise built her up and charted an escape from her tortured guilt. She devoted herself to his vision after that.

She tried to explain, "There was an argument over the price of the herd."

This part she could never fully comprehend. Childhood memories twisted and surged in angry bites. Hushed conversations between farmers became fuming whispers. The lanterns paired with looming shadows that passed between the dead of night. The dulled emotion of the soldier who turned away from her mother was something she now understood with terrible clarity. When she was forced to give clearance to an unprepared squad she wore the same look. They will die and nothing else can be done.

"Have you been back?"

She looked to Sasuke sharply as splinters of emotional anguish settled to scar tissue. She _had_ been back and seen the lights across the stream. Her hometown thriving. Alive. No desolate memorial as copies of the people she once knew lived in the houses and tended the cattle. An old man with no worries in the world grew cabbage in _her_ garden, hauling water from the convenient stream at his backdoor. Her hometown was not allowed to die like her mother and neighbours but spread life like bacteria, became a parasitic relic that stared her down with a sinister grin. It hurt.

And suddenly she was rearing up and furiously kicking the fire so hot ash caught Sasuke's skin. He leapt to his feet and her composure was banished to banshee like screaming, "Why did you have to take me to Konoha?!"

Why did he have to stir up the pain inside her? It had blistered forth, unearthed the graves she spent so long hiding from.

"Why did you come to the academy and _ruin_ everything?!"

Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke. He was a murderer. He challenged everything she stood for, left her questioning the measure of humanity, her enemies and leader. He had destroyed her sense of self with his refusal to bow to the cruel laws the rest were governed by.

She shoved him before breaking into a run. The ensnarled roots, soft moss and dense trees of the forest would be sanctuary. He would never find her.

Time only moved forward. So would she.

* * *

She woke warm, an extra cloak thrown over her as a blanket. She fisted her hands in the rough fabric, burying her face into the familiar scent. Back to a tree Sasuke sluggishly watched over her. Her heart was heavy but mind freed from the spat. A small smile pulled at her lips.

He found her.

* * *

_MetaMirage: Writing Karin's village massacre was draining. Mechanising the violence... there should never be justification for such brutality. I hope my interpretation got even a fraction of that across. _

_On a lighter note the support this story has received warms my heart. Some have even crossed language and pairing barriers to review and I am very humbled. Thank you so much everyone. Your thoughts are always treasured. I also have a cover for this story (finally!). I'm very proud/disturbed at how innocuous it appears. Take from that what you will._


	4. 4

'_Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. _

* * *

** Self-Combustion  
**

MetaMirage

* * *

**4**

* * *

Karin had a habit of keeping her ear close to the ground when it came to missions. Knowing the variety of jobs available was only natural to help her understand her own assignments more. It wasn't until Karin mentioned a blueprint retrieval operation from a draughtsman in Konoha that Sasuke made her regret that fact. His interest in the mission became fanatical to the point he paid off one of the clerks for files detailing the case.

"I knew it. It's targeting Sai. He's Danzo's personal draughtsman."

"Why are you telling me this?" Karin questioned dryly in disapproval of his bribery. Yet again he was making a mockery of the rules the Youth Armed Sanctuary thrived upon. Her only humility was that she often used her position to get information. Really that made her no different.

"It's an opportunity to get information on Danzo," Sasuke pushed. "We are the best suited team for this. I have to get the mission. Will you back me up?"

His determination was infectious and impossible to deny. At least that's all she allowed herself to think when she agreed.

* * *

"I refuse."

"What do you mean you refuse?"

"That squad is not matched to the criteria. In fact none of our teams have the necessary skills for an assassination of that calibre. I will not support another suicide mission!" Officer Tawanaka said vehemently.

In a small desolate room, missions were assigned. The panel of Lord Orochimaru's most trusted advisers was becoming smaller and smaller. She counted six people entering the war room. Sasuke was only concerned with one when he broke in, calling him out. "I nominate my team for the Konoha retrieval. I have a unique proposition."

People shot to their feet. They had barged in on the panel and were lucky to not already be lynched on the spot. Karin quivered, doubting her decision to track the meeting for Sasuke. She didn't expect him to publically make an address, just eavesdrop.

Lord Orochimaru held up a hand that silenced everyone. "What is this proposition?"

Karin relaxed at his exception. Sasuke solidified his agenda, "I have contacts within Konoha that will guarantee successful retrival. There is a group dedicated to usurping Danzo called the _Autumn Leaf_. They are constantly tracking his movements-"

"We don't even know if these people are capable, let alone if they are trustworthy," Officer Tawanaka cut off. Karin couldn't help but agree with him. The argument Sasuke had placed forward wasn't very succinct. That didn't stop him arguing though.

"They are trustworthy and I can engage contact with the YAS to ensure that," he continued. "We can't accurately predict the location of the blueprints. They can."

"It could be useful," the new head of the medical core spoke up. The room went abuzz, people talking over each other just to be heard.

Officer Tawanaka sighed, raising his voice above the din. "Is everyone forgetting the fact Sasuke is an _Uchiha_. Sending him back to a country with a purge on his kind is idiotic."

"I know Konoha. I was born there," Sasuke defended.

Officer Tawanaka looked him up and down, taking in his dark hair, eyes and pale skin. "You are a text book Uchiha," Tawanaka retorted indelicately. Karin watched Sasuke grit his teeth, eyes withered briefly. Word by word everything he was working toward was slowly being wasted away but to the end he would remain defiant.

"My knowledge of the city, contacts and the detailing of my group will all prevent my identification."

Before anyone could form a rebuttal, Lord Orochimaru stood abruptly. Everyone at the table did the same, as was protocol. Karin and Sasuke were forced to salute as the lowest rank in the room.

"We will review your request," Lord Orochimaru said harshly. "Dismissed."

* * *

Dr. Kabuto Yakashi was a valuable asset to the _YAS_. Not only were his medicinal donations critical but he fed out a steady stream of information straight from the heart of Konoha. He served as an army doctor to the 34th infantry and therefore had access to sensitive frontline information. The hardest part of his collection would not be gaining his favour but delivering the supplies to the _YAS _without interception.

"Here."

Karin took the envelope, ensuring the string was fastened. It undoubtedly detailed Konoha's movements, troop sizes and any special weaponry. Sasuke's gaze lingered on it enough to put her on guard. Sasuke was restless, on a razor edge as he awaited the result of the review. She hoped he wouldn't do anything rash.

"You should both stay here until sunset," Dr. Kabuto suggested, throwing on his travelling cloak. He had patients to see. "It's safer to travel at night."

The news jarred Karin as she had never been asked to stay in a house as grand as Dr. Kabuto's before. She believed herself an intrusion on the immaculate royal purple carpet, crisp wallpaper, polished mahogany furniture and extravagant oil paintings. War ordinarily bought such finery to extinction and she hesitated at the spiralling staircase thinking it could all vanish at any moment.

"Stay upstairs and away from the windows."

They were left in a dormant house.

* * *

They found themselves in one of the many rooms that captured both their imaginations. For Karin it was a vanity table and Sasuke curious glances at a dusty grand piano.

On the vanity she found a strand of pearls, a gold compact of pressed powder and a carved ivory brush with neat little teeth that stood to attention. She couldn't help but pick it up and pretend for a moment it belonged to her. One glance at the dirty faced girl in the mirror made her put it down in shame. Such beautiful things could never belong to someone like her.

"My older brother was going to marry a woman with a house like this. She was much older than him of course." Karin perked up at Sasuke's voice. He was speaking slowly almost as if he didn't want to admit to having something as personal as a childhood. "She was going to pay his way through university. Itachi would have been an engineer by now..."

Rolling an iridescent pearl between her fingers Karin tilted her head, prompting him to continue. It was rare to hear him speak of anything but necessity. The house seemed to stir enough in him to mention an older brother for the first time.

"She used to let me play on her piano..." he finished before giving the piano another long look. Karin soaked up the new information, zoned in on his brother.

"What happened to Itachi?"

As soon as she said those words she wanted to swallow them back up. His pause spoke of death and she shut her eyes thinking of a clearing near Konoha and the oozing sore of earth. How insensitive. She needn't have worried though as Itachi was alive and safe. It became self-evident in the ease at which Sasuke continued.

"When I was little we used to chase each other and play hide and seek in our families Orchard. Even with the age gap between us he still indulged me. I was so spoiled."

Hearing him talk so fondly was making her revaluate everything she knew about him. It was easy to think Sasuke was born as hard as he turned out.

"There was this big tree that whenever either of us got lost we would always meet under. When we were separated he mouthed our mother's birthday. I couldn't make it last year... but this time will be different," he said with an almost sweet devotion. "I will meet him under that tree."

Sasuke's main goal in life wasn't Hokage Danzo. It was reuniting with his brother. Suddenly she was wishing it on him, hope tethered to his happiness.

"I would love to hear you play," she finally asked.

His smile seemed more like a grimace but the glint in his eyes expressed a deep joy. She shifted excitedly when he sat down and placed his fingers on the keys. She closed her eyes, anticipating a striking symphony. Sasuke would play brilliantly of course, those long fingers of his put to good use.

But there was no sound and she opened her eyes to his frown. He was in a state of unfathomable confusion and she couldn't help but fall into the blatant emotion on his face. He was hopelessly lost. Then it exploded to anger.

Furiously he stormed out the room. She pursued him, demanding to know what was wrong.

There was only a cacophony of silence.

* * *

Just before nightfall she found the stash of perfume, tucked away under the sink in the bathroom. She was completely overjoyed pulling off delicate caps that transported her to the woody spice of the East or the fresh dew of the mountains. Her mother had owned exactly one perfume bottle, the scent lavender. Karin had coveted that tiny bottle. Smell was a powerful thing and Karin couldn't walk past lavender flowers without thinking of her mother. Out of the dozen of beautiful crystal and stained glass bottles she was drawn to one of striking peacock blue, holding it out to Sasuke.

"This is my absolute favourite. Smell it." She wanted to share the experience with him, all the fumes going to her head and making her foolishly giddy. "It's vanilla."

Sasuke pressed his mouth in a disapproving line and she realised her idiocy. What did it matter if the sweet smell was her most favourite thing in the world? It was completely impractical in his eyes and therefore not worth his time. It didn't help that his bad mood had returned in full force. She was sure he was agonizing over the Konoha review as they spoke.

Still she pressed on, grabbing at a more masculine looking bottle filled with amber liquid. "I love the smell of sandalwood on a man-"

"We're going," he cut off irritably, walking out the door and leaving her sprawled on tiles.

Karin sighed. "Right..."

She wished she never asked him to play that stupid piano.

* * *

On the home stretch they rested in creeping shade. Sasuke leaned against a heavy stone and cradled his face in his hands. To an untrained eye he seemed physically exhausted but Karin understood his mental anguish. She bit her lip remembering how cathartic talking to him about her mother and village had been. She felt she owed him the same courtesy but talking about his problems only wound Sasuke up more. She sat down next to him, pressing her leg against his for attention. A glare sought her out between fingers.

"No matter what..." she said carefully. "I will always support you."

It was a dangerous promise, laced heavy with treason and deceit. It was implied she would defy the will of Lord Orochimaru even if neither of them believed it for a second. Her reassurance achieved however as tension left his shoulders and he moved a little closer.

* * *

"You have been placed in Kiri. We are sending groups to spy on the city. You have been detailed to the west side. In this packet-"

Rage flooded Sasuke's veins as he whacked the manila folder out of Orochimaru's hand with a growl. Orochimaru raised a dangerous eyebrow and a shocked hush descended over the other partners awaiting mission assignments. Such a move would cost Sasuke a week solitary confinement, separation from Karin and a stripped title. He didn't care.

"Put me on the Konoha mission," he spoke evenly. A tranquil fury ruled him. Most people can't think straight when they are angry but Sasuke was different. He could _only_ think straight. Only encompass his goal with a tunnel vision that coloured everything else a terrifying shade of grey.

Orochimaru matched his repressed tone, deadlier than a snake concealed in tall grass. "Your team is more suited to spying. You discovered where a confidential meeting was being held did you not?"

"I'm going to Konoha with or without your permission," Sasuke grit out. The truth tasted like iron, had guards rushing him. Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, sizing Sasuke up. Then he roared with laughter and hit his fist against the table. Sasuke smirked as he was released.

He had him.

"Are you all seeing this you snivelling, spineless children," Orochimaru gestured to the thirty or so people in the room. "This is _honesty_. Something I have been sorely missing!"

Sasuke had always equated true power to the driving force behind desire. Orochimaru was nullified compared to himself. Always would be.

"I expect those blueprints young man."

He simply nodded. "Yes sir."

* * *

The morning she left for her mission she spotted Officer Tawanaka with a group of guards that were following him to the western tunnels. When she called for him they all froze with an trained stillness that seemed almost unnatural.

"You have an escort."

He smiled as if she had just made a private joke. "I suppose I do. Good luck on your mission."

She nodded before Sasuke waved her over. She almost rolled her eyes at his sporadic urgency and the worry in his face. He was so hung up on the mission.

"Karin," she turned back to Officer Tawanaka as he eyed Sasuke. "Stick close to the Uchiha."

The vagueness in his voice clung to a desperate undertone she couldn't quiet make sense of. "I will sir."

* * *

Karin checked over her papers once more before she tucked them into her coat. The forgery was artwork; she commended the academy for their contacts. Packing had been arduous, Tayuya obsessing over how to smuggle their weapons between the trunks lining to avoid detection. Catching a glimpse at Sasuke's suitcase she was surprised to see tins of food and an entire salami between his clothes. Tayuya was going to kill him if she caught a wisp of the fatty meat on his neat pant suit and white button down.

"Once inside we head straight to the Konoha Printing Company," Sasuke reaffirmed, keeping his voice low as they dodged through the crowd. "There we make contact with Ami of the _Autumn Leaf_. She is going to direct us to headquarters where we will be staying. There we will meet Shisui."

The finer details of their mission had been ironed out and the Autumn Leaf checked thoroughly. When it was established they could aid the operation their mission coordinator had agreed for them to make contact. They had been over it a thousand times but finally facing the imposing walls of Konoha it wasn't so simple. It seemed impossible just to get _in_. The city was heavily guarded with soldiers marching along the outskirts and poised in spire like watchtowers. The gates were segregated. Konoha born citizens entered at the main, decorative entrance and foreign born or refugee families in the cavern like one next to it. Within the walls was a catacomb of cafe's, shops and public services likely split up in the same manner. She made a move to blend in with some Suna miners entering at their gate but was pulled back. Sasuke steered her towards the official Konoha entrance and she almost jumped out of her skin.

She barely choked out a single protest "What-"

"Less risky," Sasuke replied, giving a single nod to the gold leaf gate. He was mad! Her heart was beating an incessant thunderstorm. Konoha was the state that originated the Vigilant Policy, persecuted the Uchiha, and Sasuke wanted to rub shoulders with them? She pictured all the people in line breaking into a killing frenzy at the sight of them.

She made a conscious effort not to let any of her inner turmoil show. Nobody in the line seemed to pay much mind to each other. In fact they got all the way into quarantine without any problems. The man on duty only glanced at them once, more concerned with their papers. He stamped them and with a small smile, welcomed them home.

* * *

When they were out of earshot and winding down industrial back allies, Sasuke explained. "If I so much as glance at someone from Suna they instantly know I'm an Uchiha. It's like they can smell us," he said distastefully. Karin was about to press further but became distracted by the Anti-Kiri posters glued to the heavy stone walls. Konoha had officially declared war on Kiri after the disastrous Snow summit and it was interesting to grasp the war from their perspective. Suna had joined the fight against Kiri but was battling on two fronts against Kusagakure who had seized opportunity and tried to push into their borders. Kumogakure was suspiciously dormant. It wouldn't be long before they joined the war but to what effect was still the topic of hot debate.

She dragged her hand along a chalky limestone terrace, staring out at the soaring metropolis of Konoha. Spending her entire life between small villages she was awed by the sheer density of beautiful stone buildings and homes within the walls. Her eyes wandered the cobble streets, stretching from the barracks to the churning wheel of the water plant. Konoha was unlimited, stretching into the sky instead of burrowing into the earth. She took a deep breath of fresh air in admiration before walking on.

The posters became like wallpaper, some dated a fading yellow. It meant they were close. Konoha Printing, the only company authorized to print within the country, was in sight.

* * *

Ami was a plump, no nonsense woman with stringy dark-hair pulled back in a tight bun. She didn't look up when they entered, delegating eye contact only after one was deemed important. Sasuke wasted no time with the pass phrase. "We are here to clean the storeroom."

She looked up at them briefly before standing. "This way," she said tiredly. They were taken into a narrow hallway and lead past two men carrying a giant roll of paper with a woman clattering after them with a rainbow box of inks.

"Yes, you will find the storeroom is very dirty," Ami drawled and Karin listened closely for the subtext. The Autumn Leaf headquarters was obviously within the storeroom. "Typeface everywhere, _especially_ the containers-"

"Ami!"

The woman jumped at the sound of a loud bump. The giant roll of paper was teetering dangerously between hands and she had to leave running, looking as if there was still something important to say. Minus one guide they pushed onto the neat door at the end of the hallway labelled **STOREROOM**.

* * *

There were two levels to the warehouse, piled with ink bottles, fat rolls of differing paper and dated wooden printing presses. Karin made a connection between typeface and Ami's last words and they started hunting around all the containers until they found one filled with typeface on the top floor. It took them two stressful rounds because it looked more like a skip. They tried to move the box but it was bolted to the floor. Frowning, Sasuke dug his hands into the moveable type, trying to reach the bottom in a sea of letters. Karin watched on quizzically. Surely that wasn't the way to get in? It would be too time consuming and messy to move around all the little tiles. She gave the bottom of the container a kick and was startled by the sound that resulted. She could only describe it as... hollow.

"Sasuke," she mumbled, crouching down. She inspected the container carefully; noting one of the panels had a scrape across it. She fingered the grove, noting that it was worn and not some isolated scratch. Therefore the panel must slide across. She dug her fingers into the metal and pushed it to the left. She was impressed to discover the bin had a false bottom and could just make out a ladder and a hole in the darkness. She moved forward but jolted when Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me go first, he won't recognise you and might attack."

So Sasuke went first, descended down the ladder and she soon followed pulling the panel back carefully. It was pitch black and she felt for the steps of the ladder. Finally she landed on concrete and held her breath. Her hearing was magnified and she could make out Sasuke's steady breathing in front of her and something more ragged to the left...

"Shisui?" Sasuke whispered. It was in a split second she was backed up against the wall. Sasuke's body acted as a protective shield against the looming shadow that had rushed them.

"Shisui its Sasuke."

Karin commended Sasuke on his calm reaction to the situation. There was probably a weapon at his throat, it was the only way she could comprehend him shielding her and not just side stepping.

The assaulting darkness broke away, sounding shocked. "Sasuke?"

There was a scuttling and before long the warm light of a kerosene lamp illuminated a gaunt man. Shisui was in his thirties with long and unkempt hair the exact shade of Sasuke's. He was dangerously thin, skinny enough to be eligible for the 'fat until fit' program back at the _YAS _that fed up the underweight recruits with double food portions.

Shisui laughed, looking at Sasuke with miraculous wonder. "You've got to be crazy to break _into_ Konoha little cousin."

Sasuke had left out the fact he and Shisui were related and he returned his cousins embrace stiffly.

* * *

The _Autumn Leaf_ Headquarters comprised of a long but thin room, Karin estimating its length to match the west side of the warehouse. Two people could barely squeeze past each other and Shisui had showed them the shabby bedding at one end and the bulky printing press at the other. The kerosene lamp had been swapped for a candle and the three of them huddled around the tiny flame. Sasuke had given Shisui the salami and the man started devouring the meat ravenously.

"Eat it _slowly_," Sasuke said crossly. It was a lot to ask of a starving person and too much to expect of Shisui.

"Why didn't you do the knock?" Shisui deflected. "Then you wouldn't have scared me half to death."

"The knock?" Sasuke replied.

"Didn't Ami tell you?"

"She didn't have time to tell us how to get in. Karin figured it out."

Karin was entranced with how quickly Shisui paled. He was understandably terrified his hiding place had been discovered so easily.

"I'm glad the sweepers aren't as smart as you," he said finally, watching Karin with reproach.

"How safe are we?" she said.

"Pretty safe, the case above us on the first floor is bolted down and this-" Shisui indicated the wall by placing his hand against it. "Is fake. When they were drawing up the plans for the building the owner added in the false wall, taking off just enough so anyone with the building plans wouldn't get suspicious." He suddenly addressed Sasuke. "This is where Itachi was hidden before getting smuggled out the city. Heaps of Uchiha have gotten out this way."

Sasuke wasn't impressed, eyeing Shisui's bites with distain. "Save some."

"Why should I? You've got more food."

There was a tension between Shisui and Sasuke that had Karin disheartened. Even with his own family Sasuke would be brash. Maybe it was because Shisui was being so presumptuous and thankless.

"Because you're going to vomit," Sasuke scolded. "The food is too rich; your stomach won't be able to handle it."

Shisui hand waved and finished the sausage in one last spiteful bite.

They spent the rest of the night listening to him dry heave.

* * *

_MetaMirage:So this might be subject to an edit because I'm pedantic like that. Reviews are always welcome :)  
_


	5. 5

'_Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. _

* * *

** Self-Combustion  
**

MetaMirage

* * *

**5**

* * *

Sasuke had been reluctant to leave and scout out the warehouse. Shisui advocated individual patrol and soon they were arguing in Koma, a Kiri language used exclusively by the upper class. Arguing had become common sport to them, antagonising each other in foreign tongue. Karin couldn't understand a word but figured Sasuke must have come from a wealthy family. She was learning more about Sasuke in one mission than all ten months of their partnership. Sasuke lost the verbal assault and disappeared up the ladder irritably.

"He's always been so easy to wind up," Shisui stated. He sought praise and was ignorantly mistaken in his efforts. She took a long, hard look at him and noted his appearance. His hands were covered in black ink and shoes scuffled around the toe cap until the leather had almost worn away in nervous habit. Paper hung out of his back pocket, the sheets curling at the edge with wear.

"So why do you use the printing press?"

Shisui tilted his head. "What makes you think I use the printing press?"

Despite the clear evidence of ink and paper she indulged him. "Why else would it be down here?"

Shisui had a laugh that tittered, something that only happened on the exhale. "Well aren't we the clever one. Okay smart girl: Danzo is probably the most paranoid man on the planet. Want to know how we operate under his nose?"

Intrigued she tailed him to the printing press. "I'm in charge of the communication in _Autumn Leaf_. I tell everyone where meetings are held without uttering a single word."

She was sure he would explain further but asked anyway, "How do you manage that?"

"It is compulsory that every household receives a weekly newsletter called 'The Konoha Mission'. Your typical hate-fuelled Danzo propaganda," Shisui added, brandishing the papers from his pocket. "I recreate pages of the newsletter and put in a code for meeting day, month, time and location between the already existing words. In example the 17th of December would be puppy flour. 2am is purple twig, 3am grey twig and so on. This way we can always change location and are harder to track."

"I see. But how does it reach the members? How do you drop off the tampered versions without raising suspicion? Surely you don't just deliver these to everyone in Konoha. They'd pick up on the typos."

"Ah. If you order a weekly subscription to 'Danzo Certainty' you're placed on a special order list. One of the members overlooks those subscriptions and swaps my version for the old one in the packet before his delivery. Everyone in the _Autumn Leaf_ subscribes to 'Danzo Certainty'."

"Nice," Karin said plainly. The system seemed solid enough and she found herself admiring the scattered typeface around the press. It was the only thing allowing rebels to group in an otherwise heavily policed state. It was poetic justice the propaganda machine Danzo created was being used against him.

She tensed when she felt Shisui's gaze linger on her. He was practically leering. "So you and my little cousin huh?"

Karin raised an eyebrow at his clear insinuation. "Excuse me?"

"When we were arguing he called you his 'priota'. If there wasn't anything going on he would have called you his 'prioto'- business partner. Instead he used a romantic inflection for partner, he practically called you lovers."

Although excited by the information Karin gave him an icy look. "The only thing going on between us is a retrieval mission. I would appreciate if you maintained the same focus."

* * *

When Sasuke returned she slipped her hand into his. He pulled away quickly but his rejection no longer stung.

* * *

They poured over the university floor plan discussing the best route to Sai's office. Shisui confirmed that the blueprints (serial number VL6495) were most likely there. Their profile established Sai was rarely separated from Danzo except when he sketched in the office.

"A stream runs through the campus. It's the safest method to break in."

"No. The library is the nearest point of entry to the office."

Sasuke grit his teeth when Shisui overruled him and marked the library. The older man missed such a miniscule display of irritation. Then, Karin supposed, it was easy to miss most of Sasuke's emotional displays. Sometimes she suspected they could only be seen with a magnifying glass.

"Now that's cleared up I have something else to show you."

Shisui placed another map over the university plans and Karin frowned when the section she had been staring at matched perfectly to the new plan. A quick scan of the map showed that wasn't the only similarities.

"It's almost identical to the west end of the university."

Shisui smiled at her, pointing at a room. "Exactly. There is an entire tunnel system under the university that leads to Danzo's head quarters. I'm showing you this because Sai is a member of Danzo's group _Root_. Sai enters and leaves through here."

Karin traced the outline of her owl mask in thought. They'd been given traditional Konoha masks that were typically worn by _Root_ members to conceal their identities. That was all Karin knew about the organisation and listened intently. The conversation went no further however so Karin could assume that Sasuke was well versed in _Root_ because he didn't question further. She eyed the small arsenal of weapons Shisui was donating for their mission. He was extremely prepared.

Shisui made a new circle on each map before Sasuke stretched. "We'll go scout out the university."

* * *

Karin hugged the apartment, clambering her aching body up the rope ladder. If she had time she would cut it down. She didn't spare a glance at the guards that were hot on her heels, that awful shouting still ringing in her ears.

"_An Uchiha! An Uchiha!" _

On the way back from the university they had been spotted and unfortunately near a guard post. Sasuke ended up bolting with the majority chasing him but Karin had two persistent bastards intent on dragging her to the cell blocks. She pounded over the roof, jumping from house to house cleanly. She thanked the flat tops of Konoha housing and the cramped streets when she jumped over a balcony. She could just make out a woman screaming when her glasses blurred with steam. She dashed through the house to careen out the window. She inhaled sharply when she lost her footing on the sleet roof and tumbled to the road below. Her landing was painful but not bone shattering with clotheslines and wet earth breaking the fall. Her body ached as she shot to her feet, a prostitute giving her a bewildered look as her secluded spot was invaded. Karin's heart pounded when she heard the ruckus in the house above. Injured and exhausted there was no way she could outrun them anymore.

Karin made a split second calculation, throwing off her cloak, glasses and hiking up her shirt. "Keep your mouth shut and I'll pay you in gold," she threatened the woman.

She was on edge as her ears strained for footsteps. The men didn't make the same mistake as her but didn't bypass the area either. She was in a state of serene terror when they came into the alley. She looked her objects of fear straight in the eye, giving them a seductive smile when they jogged past hanging white sheets. One of the men stopped in front of her, giving her the once over. Playing her part she sauntered over, squealing when he pushed her back. "Not now slut."

They both finally decided the assailant had headed east. Karin flipped the girl beside her a bundle of gold coins before going west.

* * *

Sasuke wasn't as lucky as her. In case of emergency they decided to meet at the deserted western abbey. The building was easy to spot with its elaborate spire that doubled as a birds nest. It gave an entire 360 degree view, while simultaneously offering cover. Despite this, Karin hadn't been able to spot him for hours and was beginning to fear the worst. Only when the sky turned blood orange did she leave her hiding place, drifting through the mass of homeless people settling in for the night. They were drawn to the prospect of shelter that had attracted both Sasuke and herself. She wandered through their community, everyone content to let her be. At the fringe of Konoha society they didn't ask questions.

Then one man caught her attention. His cloak was new, well kept and she recognised it as Sasuke's. She studied the man and waited for her chance to strike, prepared for the long haul as he sat around the fire. She imagined the man had acquired it during a fight between guards, found it discarded in some back alley... robbed it from a dead body.

Her nauseating thoughts were disrupted when he announced loudly, "Man I gotta take a piss!"

Perfect. The second he was behind a bush she had a blade at his side. "Scream and I'll cut you."

His eyes bulged. Karin just hoped he wouldn't wet himself, nothing worse than questioning with the lingering smell of urine in the air.

"Where did you get that cloak?" she demanded coolly.

"A guy swapped me for it I swear," he breathed. Despite his terror he kept eye contact with her and spoke earnestly. Karin had a keen sense for body language and could tell when someone was lying. He wasn't.

"When?"

He was to afraid to even swallow, Karin left a ribbon of blood against his skin in persuasion. "A-About 10 minutes ago."

She smiled at him, pulling away. "Thank you."

* * *

Sasuke's head darted around the city. Although relentlessly searching he wasn't tense with worry. As if certain she would come. She made a disapproving noise as her announcement before leaning over the fence to join him.

"Should I be insulted at how easily I can be mistaken for a whore?"

He relaxed his arms, folding them over. "Insulted-yes," he said evenly. Then he smirked, "Surprised? No."

She went to punch him before giving him a superior look. "That's no way to talk to your _priota_."

The jeer in his eyes liquidated and mouth tightened into a scowl as she mimicked his words from that morning. "Shisui never could keep his mouth shut."

"Now, now leave Shisui out of this," Karin teased. "He was nice enough-"

"If you like him so much I won't bother protecting you then!"

His uncharacteristic and angry outburst startled her. She frowned, "Why would I need protecting from Shisui?"

The muscles flexed powerfully in his arm beneath the tattered coat, an unforgiving glower fixed upon his face. The silence reached the uncomfortable length of ignoring.

"I don't trust Shisui," he said finally. "He's a womanizer. Mostly I'm worried he might compromise our identities."

The sudden chill in the air suited the sub-zero conversation. Sasuke spoke of Shisui with such a lowly opinion, Karin couldn't process the dangerous suggestion in his tone. She grounded herself with one solid fact; Sasuke was smart. He wouldn't put them in a high risk situation or take on a mission they had little chance of returning from.

Would he?

She had to argue. "But he's your cousin."

"Family doesn't mean anything. Not after what we've been through."

Unsatisfied she attacked the core of the issue. "Why don't you trust him?"

Again it took a while but eventually he talked. "The only reason my family came back to Konoha was because Shisui convinced us. He was on the Uchiha council. He knew how bad things were going to get, what Danzo was planning, but still he made us come."

He sounded so... exhausted. He raised his arm heavily and pointed to the far end of Konoha.

"That's where the ghetto's used to be. Where they packed us all in."

The neighbourhood looked like a scar on the otherwise beautiful architecture of Konoha, corroding buildings bordered up with ugly barbed fencing and scrap metal. Sasuke hadn't spoken of living in such conditions but she had always assumed. Rumours of an infectious disease in Konoha had spread quickly through Oto, reports coming back that a portion of the city had been blocked off for quarantine. Karin only began to comprehend a more sinister truth when Lord Orochimaru held an assembly welcoming all to the _YAS_ who sought refuge from Konoha. Logically he wouldn't expose his fold to infection so something was amiss.

"People thought the Uchiha were spies reporting to Kiri because it was where we originally came from. My family had been in Konoha for 8 generations but we were treated like illegal immigrants. Every battle Konoha lost Danzo would stir up a speech about troop position being compromised and specialty information leaked. Our businesses started losing customers, then they were vandalised and finally seized."

He bowed his head and Karin realised they both had no clue why their lives had fallen apart, struggling to assemble the skeletons they crawled away from with sickening guilt. They were both so young when the world went insane but it was impossible for them not to try and make sense of it.

"'Peaceful resolution' Shisui told us. Liar. We came to Konoha in good faith, to prove all the propaganda wrong. We were just playing into Danzo's hands. When the killings started he blamed it on a plague and the rest of the country believed what they had to."

She pressed her shoulder against his before telling him she was going to scout out the area. If she knew anything about Sasuke for sanities sake he needed to be alone after sharing so much of himself.

"I trust that Shisui wants Danzo dead as much as I do," he said. "That's enough right."

She wondered if he intended that to be a question or not.

* * *

Konoha parliament was built facing the town square. It was an imposing structure of ornate bronze with towering limestone walls that obstructed the clear night sky. Sasuke leaned against the bricks of the abbey, keeping a resentful eye on the podium.

This city was full of tarnished memories. How could he recall dipping apples into toffee at the sweetshop or the excitement of visiting his brother at university without bitterness now? Konoha became devoid when the streets he once played in were turned into ghettos to trap and discriminated his family. The poisonous realisation people had hated him from birth swept contempt through his mind. Everything was spoiled.

Despite that there were some things Sasuke couldn't stop remembering. He dwelled on Naruto. Naruto was an idiot. For a diplomat's son he spoke ineloquently and had been held back in school. He was bad with money and always managed to get on the wrong side of people. He was also Sasuke's best-friend and disgustingly loyal. He still had the nerve to call Sasuke his friend after Danzo passed the Vigilant Policy; the decree that ruled all Uchiha, Yamanaka and Hyūga as non-citizens and a threat to the nation.

None of that mattered to Naruto though. Sasuke was still his best-friend, an unpopular notion to say the least. It was dangerous and dim-witted to be so open in a police state and Sasuke feared the repercussions for Naruto and cut off contact. Asking Naruto to leave him alone never worked so Sasuke would snap at Naruto behind the barbed wire, run at him like a vicious dog protecting the boundary of his fence. Other days he would flat out ignore him. But each day Naruto would still come and bring what little rationed food he had to share and his mindless chatter about the day.

Then it became more than chatter. Naruto started a group dedicated to informing Konoha of the inhumane conditions in the ghettos and that the mounting deaths were not from a contagious plague but outright murder. He petitioned against the propaganda Danzo had circulated about the Uchiha being spies with such vigour people began to see his father in him, a young man that was honourable and intent on creating a better world.

Of course Danzo was never going to allow that.

Three years ago he had watched as Naruto was dragged into _Root_ headquarters. It stood out like a flare against the night sky. People that went into that building never came out; every trace of them erased maddeningly.

Sasuke turned his face away from the corruption and wished Naruto could have done the same.

* * *

The university was grandly neglected with crumbling stone and wild grounds that spiralled with ivy and overgrowth. She supposed maintaining a haven for free-thinkers wasn't high priority in Danzo's regime. Karin wandered the halls with curious glances. They finally stopped at an unassuming door with a gold-plated number _167_ above the frame. They'd reached the target.

It was difficult to unlatch the door in shadowed darkness but Karin managed. Earlier they had searched for weak points of the building with unenforced windows and easily jimmied doors. Sai's office door was too complicated to open quickly and quietly but overlooked an interior courtyard. Taking a different, weaker door they could cross the courtyard and enter through a window to his office with ease. Once inside Karin carefully lifted the window and crawled through.

Her feet landed in temperate water with bamboo shoots rising high above her head. The pond was shaky to navigate, rocks jutting at odd angles in artificial beauty. She steadied herself by holding onto Sasuke's cloak as they pushed towards the glimmer in the distance.

The sound of shattering glass made her heart stop. The noise was unavoidable but so impossibly loud she feared the neighbouring buildings could hear it. They needed to get the blueprints. Fast.

Striking their torches they began to ransack the draughtsman office. Papers littered the tables in organised chaos. Karin felt like she was tearing through every one. Large complicated diagrams that envisioned weapons of mass destruction in loving detail began to blur at the extent of Danzo's brutal imagination.

_VL6495_ was all Karin thought. _Serial number_ _VL6495._

Sasuke flipped through sketch pads on the desk and tossed books over to Karin at the filing cabinets. He didn't need to say anything when she found **JOURNAL** printed across the covers. Maybe they could find the blueprints easier with these recollections. However all Karin read were ramblings obsessed over a particular type of charcoal that Sai feared was running out. Drawings titled 'Whitlock Quarry' where the rare charcoal was found followed slanted sentences like: _The best in the world_, _the only one good enough_ and _gift from heaven_. She questioned what type of mind Sai had with his erratic, fervent novel of worry. At the back she found some of the charcoal and took a loose piece between her fingers noticing the odd texture, the smudge as black as a moth eye.

Then a scuffle startled both Sasuke and herself. Instantly they cast their torches into the pond, the flames extinguishing in the water.

Someone was unlocking the office door.

Sasuke moving forward was signal for her to step back. Light flooded from the open door but thankfully the assailant walked straight into the dark room with a confidence of belonging. When they reached the desk Sasuke locked them in a sleeper hold while Karin shut the door quickly. She truly began to panic when she realised Sasuke wasn't executing the move, almost as if he wanted the victim to stay conscious.

Striking a new torch revealed the man was Sai. Did Sasuke plan to question him about the blueprints? What if he screamed? What if he was able to identify them if captured? It was too risky!

Biting her tongue Karin helped restrain the man to a sitting position as Sasuke pulled out a blade. Was he going to kill him? No, that wasn't Sasuke. He was planning something else.

Grabbing the sketch pad and throwing it at his feet Sasuke asked, "Where's Danzo?"

What was he doing?! Furiously Karin tried to stop shaking at Sasuke's blatant jeopardising. They weren't here for Danzo and Sasuke needed to remember that.

Sai had been alarmingly placid throughout the entire ordeal but now his face became haughty. He opened his mouth to reveal _his tongue had been cut out_. He couldn't talk. Not even if he wanted to. The disturbing mutilation got worse when he broke one of his own fingers, dutifully beginning on the rest to end any communication. With a frustrated hiss Sasuke knocked him out.

Frozen at the sheer extent of the _Root_ member's loyalty Karin took charge with a gruff, "Keep searching."

* * *

With the blueprints safely in her breast pocket Karin took a deep breath. The mission's success hinged on leaving undetected but that wasn't the source of tension in the room. Sasuke was standing over Sai's body as if in vigil.

"He looks a lot like you..." Karin said faintly, trying to bring him back.

Slowly he turned to her. "...He does."

Sasuke was terrifying against the torchlight. The burning flame illuminated his fanged, bleach white mask ominously. He became more frightening when he tore it off. He began hacking at his hair with a blade, cutting it down to mimic Sai's haircut. Horrified, Karin watched him dress in Sai's Root uniform and head for the door. She caught him and snarled. "What're you doing?"

Stupid question because she knew. The whispered conversations between Shishi, the extra weaponry and his demand for the mission pointed to assassinating Danzo. She just didn't think Sasuke so idiotic or self-centered to leave her, but more importantly their mission, in the lurch.

He simply smirked.

"You're a fool," she whispered angrily. "You think you can kill him on your own? _You will die_."

Of course he ignored her. "We're splitting up. You go back to the printing factory. I'm going into Root's headquarters."

A traitor and he still had the audacity to order her around? She went to hit him in aggravation but stopped. It wasn't enough. Armed with one low, nasty word she detonated. "Pointless."

That cut deeper than any blade. Blind rage smothered her against the wall and held her in his vice grip. Revenge would never be pointless. Sasuke saw her as tangling with his own reflection therefore her misunderstanding was the hottest betrayal. It was plainly unforgiving.

"Surely you of all people can understand blood as payment enough."

Yes, her of all people. She levelled the demonic pain with shared experience. One last threaded connection. Sasuke couldn't deny her. Only pretend to.

"Blood will _never_ be payment enough," she retorted coldly. "Not for us."

Their sins were beyond the martyr. Their lives a stolen gift from forgotten suffering. No matter the name; revenge, justice, redemption... they could not simply pay their penance for surviving. There was only senseless, incomplete existence owned.

He released her sharply. With resentment she watched him split from the hall, her head ruling him long gone before he was even out of sight.

She let him walk away.

* * *

MetaMirage: Hi everyone, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Well as much as you can enjoy Karin and Sasuke splitting up and my butchering of shisui's character. Just a question... do you like or dislike Sasuke's perspective swaps? I'm worried their messing with the flow of the story. Your thoughts would really be a help. Hope life is treating you all kindly :)


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